1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a transfer ribbon, and more particularly, it relates to a transfer ribbon which is suitable for use in either a thermal printer or an impact printer and which provides for improved sharpness of any data printed with the transfer ribbon.
2. Description of Related Art
The typical and well-known arrangement in a printing operation provides for transfer of a portion of the ink from an ink ribbon to paper or like record media and which results in a mark or image on the paper. Also known are printing inks which contain magnetic particles wherein certain of the particles are transferred to the record media for encoding characters in a manner and fashion so as to be machine readable in a subsequent operation. MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) data is magnetic data which is printed utilizing the encoding system just mentioned.
In the printing field, the impact printer and the thermal printer have been the predominant means for printing data on a document or record media. The typical arrangement in the impact printing operation provides for the transfer of a portion of the ink ribbon onto the record media when the ink ribbon is impacted thereagainst. In thermal printers, the intense heating of localized areas of the ink ribbon causes transfer of the ink from the ink ribbon onto the record media. A deficiency with transfer ribbons of the prior art is that they were not readily adaptable for use on both the thermal printer and the impact printer. Another deficiency with thermal ribbons of the past is that they did not provide good print density, sharpness and resistance to smearing if used in an impact printer.
There is, therefore, a need to provide a transfer ribbon which is capable of transferring a sharp mark or image when used in either a thermal printer or in an impact printer.